CONCORD, N.C. – Breaking the NASCAR Cup Series all-time win record set by Petty Enterprises took a team of dedicated individuals who work hard day in and day out for one goal: winning races.
Hendrick Motorsports broke the Cup Series record at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 30 in sweeping fashion after Kyle Larson won all three stages and led for 327 of the 400-lap event.
“I’m glad the No. 5 car won,” said Tony Bunnell, the paint supervisor at Hendrick Motorsports. “The No. 5 car is the one that started Hendrick Motorsports and the one that beat the record, so that was nice to see it come full circle.”
Bunnell currently is the longest-tenured employee at Hendrick Motorsports. He joined the team in June 1984 just before driver Geoff Bodine won at Nashville Superspeedway the following Saturday.
“I told (crew chief) Harry Hyde then, ‘I told you I would bring you good luck,’” Bunnell said. “Harry said, ‘Yeah, I don’t want to hear that.’”
Bunnell continued to work at Hendrick Motorsports through the rest of the inaugural season, helping claim the team’s third win at Riverside Speedway in November 1984. Since then, he has seen the rest of Hendrick Motorsports’ victories, working alongside drivers, crew chiefs and teams through the record-breaking 269th win.
Robert Crutchfield, who works in aviation for Hendrick Motorsports, was at the organization’s first win at Martinsville Speedway in April 1984 as a spectator. He said he was ‘elated’ with that win and it drove him to help the race team beyond his aviation role, filling in where he was needed to help prepare for races.
“We used to go to the track as a pilot and work,” Crutchfield said. “So, I have actually spotted some of the drivers and, on occasion, ran fuel and washed the windshields during the pit stops.”
Started by Hendrick Motorsports before the 1984 season, Rick Hendrick was considering shutting the doors on his operation because he was unable to keep funding the No. 5 team. After Bodine’s win at Martinsville, Hendrick was able to get a sponsor on the No. 5 Chevrolet and the rest, as they say, is history.
“The pride is with being with the organization,” Crutchfield said. “But being able to be going to the races, especially early on when you don’t know what’s going to happen, but then you start getting successful and the pride just grows and grows.
“I can’t be more proud of what Hendrick Motorsports has accomplished over the years; it’s just mind-boggling.”